


Prologue (The Uneasy Beginning Remix)

by Daegaer



Category: Weiß Kreuz
Genre: Assassins & Hitmen, Between Seasons/Series, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Remix, Secret Organizations, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-25 20:42:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12043896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daegaer/pseuds/Daegaer
Summary: Mamoru wants to feel useful to his long-lost family and to Kritiker. Perhaps his new assistant can help.





	Prologue (The Uneasy Beginning Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lady_Ganesh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Ganesh/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Prologue](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9558716) by [Lady_Ganesh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Ganesh/pseuds/Lady_Ganesh). 



> Thank you to my beta-reader!

The more Grandfather promised that Kritiker would reform, the less things seemed to change. Mamoru didn't believe that the new Chief of Police wasn't in Grandfather's pocket, even if he wasn't – this time - a Takatori. _We really must consider how such a thing would look,_ Grandfather had said. He had conveyed no more than mild disappointment in the rashness of his young relatives when he regretted that he had personally, _personally_ had to persuade a distant cousin not to put himself forward for the position. And he had certainly only _gently suggested_ that the family withdraw from public for almost a year to properly mourn its deaths and put its affairs in order. 

Mamoru snorted. He'd rarely been so busy as in the past year. On the surface, Takatori Enterprises and Tsukiyono Castle seemed placid, those at their head somber and self-reflective. Underneath, Grandfather had worked Kritiker and its controllers into a more entrenched position in Tokyo than had ever been possible when Reiji had been alive. _Mamoru_ had worked even harder – officially too valuable to the family to risk with the newly reconstituted Weiß, he found himself confined to analyzing data from their missions, trying to provide useful information to them as quickly as possible. Unofficially, he worked at breaking every bit of Kritiker's security he could, in the hope of actually finding out _something_ of what Grandfather might really be up to. It felt like he was running to keep in place and was achieving less than nothing, needing to keep one step ahead of Kritiker's computer security. He had weeks when he barely spoke to another person, and he was _exhausted_. 

And now to top it all off, he had – this. One off-hand remark about needing an assistant, he thought. Someday. In the future. Perhaps. And then, out of nowhere, he got Schwarz. Or one of them, anyway. So far Nagi hadn’t done anything that he could complain of, just hung around and glared from under his hair at everyone. That counted as excellent manners from Schwarz, probably, Mamoru thought. He was being paid enough to be a bit more polite – Mamoru had long since accessed those files – though exactly what Nagi's ridiculous salary was officially _for_ still eluded him. He had shown no urge towards murder yet, and Grandfather must have checked him out enough to be signing off on his wages, so – Mamoru sighed and tried to put it from his mind, hurriedly shifting the focus to the nearest inanimate object as Nagi raised an eyebrow.

"What _is_ this?" he said, dropping the scrap of paper back onto his desk. "I've read it three times and it just doesn't make sense."

"It's Latin," Nagi said, like he was saying, _the sky is blue_. "How much Latin do you know?"

"Actually, I took a whole term of it in school," Mamoru said. "As an after-school class, to help with things like European Historical Studies. It says –" he glared at the paper as if he might suddenly make it spontaneously combust. "Something about God?"  


"Agnus dei qui tollis peccata mundi," Nagi said. " _Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world_. It's from a Mass, that's all." He shrugged. "Or was. The Mass isn't in Latin these days. Not since your grandfather was young."  


"So I'm looking for a geriatric Christian?" Mamoru narrowed his eyes. Nagi had to be kidding.  


"A geriatric Catholic, specifically. Or someone who really likes the Latin Mass. Or really doesn't like it. Or who has a thing for Catholics. Or a thing against Catholics. Or just likes Latin."  


Mamoru sat back and looked at him. It didn't _sound_ like he'd made a joke. It couldn't possibly be anything else. Naoe Nagi, of all people, couldn't be making stupid jokes like Ken or Yohji used to. _Ken_ , he thought, _I wonder if he'd know what this means?_ He shoved the thought down.  


"You're a Catholic, right?"  


"I guess. I haven't been to Mass for a while. I was raised in a Catholic orphanage when I was small."  


"Ken-kun grew up in one, too – " Mamoru started.  


Something flickered in Nagi's face. "I know," he said, and picked the paper up in a way that said, _Shut up_. "This doesn't necessarily mean a damn thing," he said, like he was changing the subject. "It could have been copied from a book or a website by some moron trying to throw you off the scent. Or it could have been left by a religious maniac who really misses the old way of doing things." The look he gave Mamoru was malicious as he added, "But as _your_ friend's in prison and _mine's_ living happily in Ireland, I don't think it's anyone we know."  


_Bastard_ , Mamoru thought, and sat back. "Why are you here?"  


"You tell me. I don't actually know Latin," Nagi said. He looked pleased that his barb had got through. "Surely there's something better I could be doing?"  


Mamoru rubbed his eyes, letting the exhaustion wash over him again. Maybe Nagi would be gone when he looked up. That would be nice.  


"I don't know," he said. "What _should_ you be doing? I didn't hire you, remember?"  


A hand pulled his fingers away from his eyes.  


"Don’t do that. It's bad for your sight, Crawford says. You've worked your way into every file there is – what do you _want_ me to do?"  


Mamoru looked up at him. Nagi looked so young, just a harmless kid. Like him.  


"I haven't seen your file," he said.  


"Why not?"  


Mamoru paused, wondering what it would be like to say that he wasn't allowed out on missions with the new Weiß team because everyone said he was too valuable. _Valuable_ , he thought bitterly. He _wanted_ to be valued, but he wanted to _belong_ more, not just be a Kritiker or Takatori asset.  


"I'm a work in progress for my Grandfather and his people," he said casually. "Eventually they'll _show_ me your file. That's when I'll know I'm secure enough to do what I want here."  


Nagi nodded, like he was pretending to believe him. His eyes drifted down to his hand, still holding Mamoru's fingers captive, and back up to Mamoru's face.  


"I know what it's like, being someone's project," he said. "It can be better than some of the alternatives."  


Before he could let go, Mamoru tightened his fingers. "And you? Why did you agree to work here?"  


"The money's good," Nagi said, and Mamoru heard quite clearly that that _was_ a joke. Nagi looked at him evenly, like he was sizing him up for a shallow grave. "There's something I need to do," he said. "Before _I'm_ secure – before I'm really free. I need to be in place with Kritiker for it to happen. I need you alive and I can't trust any of the people around you to ensure that."  


"So now I'm your project," Mamoru said, thinking, _At least he's not pretending he wants to be friends._  


"More like my hapless pawn; you're my way in," Nagi said. He paused. "None of it was personal before, you know. None of it; not even the girl."  


Mamoru snatched his hand back, as if Nagi's skin was burning coals. It hurt to look at him until he had the anger under control again. Nagi really wasn't his friend. It wouldn't do to forget it. He leaned forward in his chair and tapped a finger against his notes. Back to work.  


"Let's assume this Latin note means _something_. Why is it at my murder scene?"  


Nagi held out his hand for the folder. "How ritualistic are the deaths? Crucifixion? Reenactments of martyrdoms? The corpses have stigmata?"  


"The corpses have what?"  


"Let's see the autopsy photos – it's easier to explain if you have something to look at."  


"Thanks," Mamoru said, glad to have someone to explain the oddities he'd already noted.  


"I don't want to be useless while I'm here," Nagi said, looking through the folder.  


Mamoru nodded, knowing exactly how he felt.


End file.
